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A review by thejdizzler
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
4.0
Read for philosophy book club with Simon, Logan and Amanda
I have a lot of notes on this, but basically Smith lays out a theory of morality that depends on our sympathy with other human beings. This is a natural system that does not rely on large amounts of learning and philosophizing like other systems (plato, stoics), but rather relies merely on our natural inclinations.
Elegant, simple, and relying on empiricism for its proof, I really enjoyed Smith's theory. However, I do wonder if this theory is too simplistic. Relying solely on our natural intuition hasn't seemed to work too well in the past couple centuries.
I have a lot of notes on this, but basically Smith lays out a theory of morality that depends on our sympathy with other human beings. This is a natural system that does not rely on large amounts of learning and philosophizing like other systems (plato, stoics), but rather relies merely on our natural inclinations.
Elegant, simple, and relying on empiricism for its proof, I really enjoyed Smith's theory. However, I do wonder if this theory is too simplistic. Relying solely on our natural intuition hasn't seemed to work too well in the past couple centuries.